Guard structure



May 12,1942. M. l.. FISHER GUARD sTRUcT-URE Filed July 17 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l A TTO/B/YEY ManyllZ,l 1942. M. L. FISHER 4 2,283,050

GUARD STRUCTURE Filed J\lly,l'7, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 y t :59.3 v 2 [I2 /3 l ij" 27 Patented May 12, 1942 UNITED s'rrresy Partnr"A 1 orrics t GUARIZSSTSJOCTTJRE. l t t v I Merle L. Fisher, Canton, Ohio, assigner Vto James R. Kearney Corporation, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri 11 Claims.

This invention relates generally to protectivel guards and more specifically to protective guards adapted for use on poles and other structures which support overhead electrical conductors, for the purpose of protecting linement working on the supporting structures from injury resulting vfrom accidental contact with the supported energized conductors, the predominant object of the invention .being to provide a protective guard of the type referred to above which is of such improved and unique construction and arrangement that it may be conveniently arranged in its effective position on a conductor support and when so positioned will protect linemen from the hazards produced by the proximity of highly energized electrical conductors.

As is well known to persons familiar with such matters, the duties of electric linement frequently require them to climb poles and other conductor-supporting structures and work in close proximity to highly energized conductors supported by said supporting structures. Obviously, a lineman so occupied is in an extremely hazardous position because of the proximity of highly energized conductors with which his body may accidentally contact, and the prime purpose of the present invention is to provide means for effectively protecting a lineman from the dangers mentioned when he is occupied in the situation referred to.

Fig. 1 is a perspective of an assembly which includes the upper portion of a conductor supporting pole and a pair of the improved guard structures, one of said guard structures being shown in its extended, effective position, and the other j- Fig. 5 is a fragmentary front elevation of the frame of the guard structure illustrating the arrangement of the intermediate cross member of said frame. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal sectionof the frame of the improved guard structure, illustrating in plan one of the means of the frame for supporting the guard structure in its effective position.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the structure illustrated in Fig. 6. v Fig. Sis-a fragmentary vertical se-ction of the assembled guard structure, parts thereof being broken away because of limitations of drawing space.

In the drawings, wherein is shown for the purpose of illustration, merely, one embodiment of the invention, P designates in Fig. 1 of said drawings a pole with which are associated a plurality of crossarms C, said crossarms having mounted thereon suitable insulators S which support electrical conductors W1, W2, W3, W4, and W5, and W6. In the case of such an assembly of a pole, crossarins, and conductors as that illustrated in Fig. 1, articles of electrical equipment (not shown) are Afrequently mounted on the pole or on the crossarms between the opposed sets of conductors, and a lineman who is to do work in connection with the installation or maintenance of such equipment must climb t0 a position between said opposed sets of Conductors. The purpose of the guard structure of the present invention is to afford such protection to a lineman working vin the situation described that he may have complete freedom of movement of his arms and body without danger that he may accidentally come in contact .with the energized conductors and thus be subjected to electrical shock.

In Fig. 1 ofthe drawings a pair of the improved guard struCture, designated by the reference characters A and B, are shown in association with a poler and conductor assembly, but as these guard structures are duplicates in construction and use, the following detailed description will referto a single guard structure, and the reference characters employed hereinafter will refer to corresponding parts of both of the guard structures illustrated in Fig. 1.

The improved guard structure includes a frame which is made up of a pair of opposed, vertical members I and 2, which preferably, though not necessarily, are in the form of poles formed from wood or other non-conducting material, each of said vertical members being in the form of a continuous element or an element made up of a plurality of sections suitably spliced together and detachable from each other for purposes ofstorage. The opposed vertical members I and 2 are spaced apart as shown in the drawings and said members are connected togetherby a plurality` of cross members 3, 4, and 5, which are also formed of wood or other nonconducting material, the cross member 3 being located at the upper ends of the vertical members I and 2, the cross member being located at the lower ends of said vertical members, and the cross member 4 being located at a point intermediate of the upper and lower ends of said vertical members.

Each of the cross members 3, 4, and 5 is pivotally attached at its opposite ends to the vertical members I and 2, the manner of attaching the cross member 3 to the vertical members I `and 2 being illustrated to the best advantage in Figs. 3 and 4. The means for pivotally attaching the cross member 3 at its opposite ends to the vertical members I and 2 comprises providing the opposite end portions of they cross member with slots 6 which are open at the ends of the cross member and at the top and bottom surfaces thereof. These slots receive eye portions 'I formed at the inner ends of bolts 8, the shank portions of which extend through openings formed through the vertical members I and 2, said bolts being secured to said vertical members by nuts 9. The means for pivotally attaching the opposite end portions of the cross member 3 to the vertical members I and 2 includes also pairs of plates I0, each of the vertical members I and 2 having a pair of plates II) bolted, or otherwise secured thereto at opposite sides thereof and extended inwardly therefrom. The opposite end portions of the cross member 3 are disposed between the plates I ofY the vertical members I and 2 as shown to the best advantage in Fig. 3, and pivot pins I I are extended through apertures formed through the plates I0 and through the portions of the cross member 3 located at opposite sides of the slots 6, said pivot pins II extending also through the eye portions of the bolts 8.

The cross members 4 and 5 are pivotally attached at their opposite ends to the vertical members I and 2 through the instrumentality of means constructed and arranged in accordance with the means just described for pivotally connecting the cross member 3 to said vertical members, and because of the similarity of said attaching means the attaching means of the cross members 4 and 5 need not be described in detail herein. The only diiTerence between the attaching means of the cross members 3 and the corresponding attaching means of the cross members 4 and 5 is that the plates I0 of the attaching means of the two latter cross members are slightly longer and extend a greater distance inwardly of the locations of the pivot pins II as shown at IG in Figs. 1 and 5.

Because of the pivotal attachment between the vertical members I and 2 and the cross members 3, 4 and 5 it is obvious that the frame produced by said vertical and cross members may be disposed in the rectangular arrangement in which said frame is shown in Fig. 1, or said frame may be collapsed by moving one vertical member downwardly and toward the other Vertical member to bring the frame to the collapsed condition shown in Fig. 2. This pivotal arrangement for collapsing the members making up the frame of the guard structure is important in that it provides for greatly reducing the space required for storing the frame, for instance in a truck or other vehicle in which it is transported from place to place. The cross members 3 and 4 are provided at their approximate centers with portions I2 which are provided with annular grooves that serve a purpose to be hereinafter Set forth.

Adjacent to the upper ends of the vertical members I and 2, each of said members has mounted thereon an arm I3 which extends from said member as shown in Fig. 1, and adjacent to the lower ends of said Vertical members each thereof has mounted thereon a similar arm I4. Each of the arms I3 and I4 comprises a pair of spaced portions I5 which are disposed at opposite sides of the vertical member with which the arm is associated, and the arm is pivoted to the associated vertical member by a pivot pin I5 which passes through apertures formed through the spaced portions of the arm and through the associated vertical member. The spaced portions I5 of each arm I3 and I4 converge from the rear to the forward end of the arm, as shown in Fig. 6, and at the forward ends of said spaced portions an end member I'I is secured thereto. Also each arm includes a spacer I8 which is secured to and between the spaced portions I5 and extends beyond lower edges of the spaced portions (Fig. '7). Additionally each arm I3 and I4 includes an abutment I9 which is secured to and between the spaced portions I5 of the arm, said abutment serving to engage the associated vertical member when the arm has been moved to its horizontal position, as shown in Fig. '7, to arrest further upward movement of the outer end of the arm. The various parts which make up the arms I3 and I4 are formed from material which is a nonconductor of electricity, such, for instance, as wood, Bakelite, or other material possessing the desired characteristics.

Mounted at the outer end of each of the arms I3 and I4 is a clamp 20 which may be of any suitable construction and arrangement. The particular clamp illustrated in the drawings comprises a stationary clamp member 2I which is iixed to the end member I'I of the arm by a bolt 22, or otherwise, and is provided with a fixed jaw 23, and a movable jaw 24 that is adjusted toward and from the xed jaw 23 by a screwthreaded operating element 25 which is in screwthreaded engagement with a portion 26 of the clamp member 2I and is provided with an eye at its lower end.

The frame of the improved guard structure disclosed herein which is made up of the vertical members I and 2, the cross members 3, 4, and 5, and the arms I3 and I4 is adapted to be elevated to the point of the conductor support at which the guard structure is to be used and applied to conductors supported by said conductor support. When the frame is being elevated as described the arms I3 and I4 are extended from the vertical members in horizontal positions, said arms being retained in such positions by frictional engagement of portions of the spaced portions I 5 of the arms with the vertical members I and 2. Also at this time the movable jaws 24 of the clamps 2l] are adjusted downwardly from the xed jaws 23 of said clamps. The parts of the frame being properly arranged said frame is moved to a position where the xed jaws 23 of the clamps 2! contact with and overlap the conductors to which the frame is to be attached, in Fig. 1 either the conductors W1 and W3, or the conductors W4 and W6, and the clamps 2D are caused to mechanically grip the frame-supporting conductors by rotating the operating elements 25 of the clamps with the aid of a suitable clamp stick, Whose nger engages the eyes of said operating elements to adjust the movable `jaws of the clamps to the conductor-gripping position. The frame of the guard structure will, there-upon, be securely attachedv to the conductors by which it is sup-` ported.

The improved guard structure includes also a lift-pole 21 which is formed from wood or other suitable non-conducting material and which is provided with hook element 28 that is xed to and extends laterally from the lift-pole 21 as is shown to the best advantage in Fig. 8. 'I'he liftpole 21 is assembled with the frame of the guard Vstructure when the structure is in useby causing the outer hook-shaped end of the hook element 28 to be seated in the annular groove of the portion |2 of the cross member 3, as shown in Figs. 1 and 8, the lift-pole hanging vertically from such support. The lift-pole has mounted at its upper end a pulley 29 over which a rope 30 operates.

Forming a part of the guard structure is an extensible and collapsible Wall 3| of the lazy tong type, said wall being composed of a plurality of strips of material pivoted together in the well known manner, and as is shown in Fig. 1 t-o permit said wall to be drawn to the extended position in which it is shown at the left-hand side of Fig. 1, or collapsed to the condition in which the wall 3| at the right-hand side of Fig. 1 is shown. The strips which make up the wall 3| may be formed from wood or any other suitable non-conducting material. A cross member 32 is provided at the upper end of the extensible and collapsible wall 3|, and a similar cross member 33 is provided at the lower end of said wall 3|. The cross members 32 and 33 are respectively secured to the wall 3| by links 34 and 35 (Figs. 1 and 8) which are pivotally attached to the cross members 32 and 33, in lslots formedtherein, by pivot pins 36, (Fig. 8), said links being also pivotally attached to the wall 3| by pivots which pivotally connect together certain of the strips of said wall. The cross members .32 and 33 are preferably formed of wood or other non-conducting material.

In the assembled condition of the guard structure the lower cross member 33 of the wall 3| is secured to the lift-pole 21 by a bolt 31 as is shown to the best advantage in Fig. 8. A .portion of this bolt 31 is disposed in an opening formed through the cross member 33 and said bolt is secured to said cross member by nuts 38, and an exten-ded portion of the bolt 31 passes through an opening formed through the lift-pole 21 and is secured thereto by a wing nut 39. The wall 3| has extended from parts thereof a plurality of bolts which are provided with eyes at their ends,

one of said bolts being shown in Fig. 8 wherein it. is designated by the reference character 40, and the eyes of the bolts referred to receive suitable rings 4| which embrace the lift-pole 21V. Also one end portion of the rope 30 which operates over the pulley 29 at the upper end of the lift-pole is tied about the upper cross member of the wall 3| so that when the opposite end portion of the rope is pulled the wall 3| will be drawn from its collapsed position in which it is shown at the righthand side of Fig. 1 to the extended position of said wall as shown at the left-hand side of Fig. 1. When the wall 3| is drawn to its extended position as shown atvthe left-hand side of Fig. 1 with the aid of the rope 3|), the lower end portion of said rope is tied about the lift-pole 21, and the lower cross member 33 of said wall 3|, as is also shown at the left-hand side Vof Fig. 1, to retain the wall Ain its upwardly extended position.

When the improved guard structure is to be erected in position for use at a pole or other conbers and 2 and the cross members 3, 4 and 5, is

adjusted to its expanded condition, the arms i3 and I4 are moved from their collapsed positions shown in Fig. 2 to their outwardly extended positions shown in Fig. l and the movable jaws of the clamps 2U are adjusted to their lowered positions.l The frameis then elevated, with the aid of a block and tackle, for instance, to the point where the guard structure is to be employed, and said frame is secured to conductors with the aid of the clamps 2D as has already been explained herein. The lift-pole 21 is then elevated to the location of the frame and its hook element 28 is caused to engage the portion |2 of the cross member 3 so that said lift-pole hangs in a vertical position from said cross member 3. The expansible and collapsible wall 3| is then elevated to the location of theframe, the rings 4| moving into embracing relation with respect to the lift-pole 21, and the lower cross member of the wall 3| is secured to the lift-pole with thev aid of the bolt 31 and wing nut 39. The rope 3G, which is in position where it passes over the pulley 29 at the upper end of the lift-pole and where portions thereof hang downwardly from said pulley at opposite sides of the lift-pole, is tied at one of its ends t-o the upper cross member 32 of the wall 3|. then pulled to draw the upper portion of the wall 3| upwardly to its extended position as shown at the left-hand side of Fig. 1 and the end portion -oi the rope which is pulled is tied about the lower cross member 33 of the wall 3| and about the lift-pole to retain the wall in its upwardly extended position. During the upward movement of the wall 3| to its extended position the rings 4| slide longitudinally of the lift-pole 21 so as to guide the wall during such movement. Also the wall 3| is guided during its upward movement, and is held stable in its extended position, because of the fact that said wall is interposed between the vertical members and 2 of the frame and the lift-pole 21 as is shown to the best advantage in Fig. 8. I

When circumstances d-o no-t require that the wall 3| be extended to its full height, as shown at the left-hand side of Fig. 1, the hook element 28 `of the lift-pole 21 may be caused t0 engage the portion l2 of the intermediate cross member 4 of the-frame, in which event the wall 3| when drawn upwardly will be approximately one-half of the height of the fully extended wall when the lift-pole is suspended from the upper cross member 3 of the frame of the guard structure.

From the foregoing description it is obvious that when a pair of the improved guard structures are employed as shown in Fig. 1, a lineman working on the pole between the opposed guard structures is completely and effectively protected from injury as a'result of coming in contact with the adjacent highly energized electrical conductors. Not only are the walls 3| interposed between the lineman and the conductors, but said walls are lspaced inwardly considerable distances from the conductors by the arms I3 and I4.

I claim:

1. A guard structure comprising a frame, means for supporting said frame in its operative position, a guard wall supported by said frame and movable to extended and collapsed positions,

The opposite end portion of the rope 3|) is and means for moving said guard wall from its collapsed position to its extended position while said guard wall is supported by said frame, said guard wall moving means comprising a lift-pole supported by said frame, and means associated with said lift-pole for drawing said guard wall to its extended position.

2. A guard structure comprising a frame, means for supporting said frame in its operative position, a guard wall supported by said frame and movable to extended and collapsed positions, and means for moving said guard wall from its collapsed position to its extended position while said guard wall is supported by said frame, said guard wall moving means comprising a lift-pole supported by said frame, means for attaching the lower portion of said guard wall to said lift-pole, and means associated with said lift-pole for drawing said guard wall to its extended position.

3. A guard structure comprising a frame, means for supporting said frame in its operative position, a guard wall supported by said frame and movable to extended and collapsed positions, and means for moving said guard wall from its collapsed position to its extended position while said guard wall is supported by said frame, said guard wall moving means comprising a lift-pole supported by said frame, means for attaching the lower portion of said guard Wall to said lift-pole, and a rope and pulley assembly associated with said lift-pole, said rope of said assembly being attached to the upper portion of said guard wall and being adapted to be operated to draw said guard wall upwardly to its extended position and to be tied to maintain the guard wall in its extended position.

4. A guard structure comprising a frame, means for supporting said frame in its operative position, a guard wall supported by said frame and movable to extended and collapsed positions, and means for moving said guard Wall from its collapsed position to its extended position while said guard wall is supported by said frame, said guard wall moving means comprising a lift-pole supported by said frame, means for attaching the lower portion of said guard wall to said liftpole, and a rope and pulley assembly associated with said lift-pole, said rope of said assembly being attached to the upper portion of said guard wall and being adapted to be operated to draw said guard wall upwardly to its extended kposition and to be tied to maintain the guard wall in its extended position, said frame and said liftpole being disposed at opposite sides of said guard wall and immediately adjacent same so as to guide the guard wall during upward movement thereof.

5. A guard structure comprising a frame, means for supporting said frame in its operative position, a guard Wall supported by said frame and movable to extended and collapsed positions, and means for moving said guard Wall from its collapsed position to its extended position while said guard Wall is supported by said frame, said guard wall moving means comprising a lift-pole supported by said frame, means for attaching the lower portion of said guard wall to said lift-pole, a rope and pulley assembly associated with said lift-pole, said rope of said assembly being attached to the upper portion of said guard wall and being adapted to be operated to draw said guard wall upwardly to its extended position and to be tic-d to maintain the guard wall in its extended position, said frame and said lift-pole being disposed at opposite sides of said guard wall and immediately adjacent same so as to guide the guard wall during upward movement thereof, and elements supported by said guard wall which embrace said lift-pole and move longitudinally thereof during upward movement of the guard wall to assist in guiding the movement of said guard wall.

6. A guard structure adapted for use at the location of electrical conductors comprising a frame, means for supporting said frame in its operative position, said frame supporting means comprising arms extended from said frame and provided with clamps adapted to engage adjacent electrical conductors so as to support said frame from said electrical conductors, a guard wall supported by said frame and movable to extended and collapsed positions, and means for moving said guard wall from its collapsed position to its extended position while said guard wall is supported by said frame.

7. Agguard structure adapted for use at the location of electrical conductors comprising a frame, means for supporting said frame in its operative position, said frame supporting means comprising arms pivoted to and extended from said frame and provided with clamps adapted to engage adjacent electrical conductors so as to support said frame from said electrical conductors, a guard wall supported by said frame and movable to extended and collapsed positions, and means for moving said guard Wall from its collapsed position to its extended position while said guard Wall is supported by said frame.

8. A guard structure adapted for use at the location of electrical conductors comprising a frame, means for supporting said frame in its operative position, said frame supporting means comprising upper and lower pairs of arms pivoted to and extended from said frame and provided with clamps adapted to engage adjacent electrical conductors so as to support said frame from said electrical conductors, a guard wall supported by said frame and movable to extended and collapsed positions, and means for moving said guard wall from its collapsed position to its extended position while said guard wall is supported by said frame.

9. A guard structure adapted for use at the location of electrical conductors comprising a frame composed of opposed side members and cross members, said cross members being pivotally attached to said side members to provide for collapsing the frame, means for supporting said frame in its operative position, said frame supporting means comprising arms pivoted to and extended from said opposed side members of the frame and provided with clamps adapted to engage adjacent electrical conductors so as to support said frame from said electrical conductors, a guard wall supported by said frame and movable to extended and collapsed positions, and means for moving said guard wall from its collapsed position to its extended position while said guard wall is supported by said frame.

10. A guard structure comprising a frame composed of opposed side members and cross members, said cross members being pivotally attached to said side members to provide for collapsing the frame, means for supporting said frame in its operative position, a guard wall supported by said frame and movable to extended and collapsed positions, and means for moving said guard wall from its collapsed position to its extended position while said guard wall is supported by said frame, said guard wall moving means comprising a lift-pole supported by said frame, means for attaching the lower portion of said guard wall to said lift-pole, and a rope and pulley assembly associated with said liftpole, said rope of said assembly being attached to the upper portion of said guard wall and being adapted to be operated to draw said guard wall upwardly to its extended position and to be tied to maintain the guard wall in its extended position.

11. A guard structure adapted for use at the location of electrical conductors comprising a frame composed of opposed side members and cross members, said cross members being `pivotally attached to said side members to provide for collapsing the frame, means for supporting said frame in its operative position, said frame supporting means comprising arms pivoted to and extended from said side members of said frame and provided with clamps adapted to engage adjacent electrical conductors so as to support said frame from said electrical conductors,

a guard wall supported by said frame and movable to extended and collapsed positions, and means for moving said guard Wall from its collapsed position to its extended position while said guard wall is supported by said frame, said guard Wall moving means comprising a lift-pole supported by said frame, means for attaching the lower portion of said guard wall to said lift-pole, and a rope and pulley assembly associated with said lift-pole, said rope of said assembly being attached to the upper portion of said guard wall and being adapted to be operated to draw said guard wall upwardly to its extended position and to be tied to maintain the guard wall in its extended position.

MERLE L. FISHER. 

